The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1887-05-13
SNAKE FARMING.
How Captain Dan Stover has Made
Money at "Rattlesnake Forty"

Near the village of Galton, ILL.,, is a eele-
brated snake farm-"rattlesnake forty"
owned and managed by Capt Dan Stover
and assisted by William Dunn, agent at the
illinois Central depot. 1t might be surmsed
that the breeding and propagation Of rattle
snakes and other reptiles was not only a
dangerous but unpleasant occupation. How
ever, these poor but honest people have
learned that there is money in snakes, and
last year they cleared almost enough from
their sales to pay the expenses of the family
Of four.
"Who buys rattlesnakes, and what on
earth do they want with them?" you ask.
Why, for use in the manufacture of the new
cure of rheumatism. A firm in Philadelphia
uses the oil in their remedy, and pays good
price for every rattlesnake delivered at their
laboratory. Mr.. St0ver has contracted with
the firm to furnish them go Of that species
during the present season at S2.25 each, none
to measure less than feet in length, or to
be less than six years Of age. The older the
snake the better and stronger the oil.
Sunday the sun shOne out bright and
warm, which brought out the snakes in large
numbers to bask in the warm rays, and, as
MIR. StOver said, would be good day to take
a stroll over "rattlesnake forty" Procuring
a good stout stick and dOnning a heavy pair
Of boots, correspondent joined StOver
and Dunn In the hunt. Dunn is a cOmpara-
lively new man in the snake business, and
has had several narrow escapes from being
| bitten by the deadly reptiles, but he Is learn
| ing fast. To show how easy it is 10 kill a
| snake, he picked up blue racer by the tail
| that was lying e0iled up in the sunlight in q
| half comatose condition, and giving 1t a
couple Of whirls over his head in lightning
manner, he cracked it like a whip, causing
| its head to part from its body and spin
/ through the air Proceeding little further,
| we came TO "the mounds, little raised
| places on the snake farm, where the snakes
| burrOw in winter and breed IN summer.
| There are thirty-seyen of these mounds on
| the farm, and on the south side of one of the
| largest OF these, where they could get the
| full benefit Of the sun, lay coiled up, sound
asleep, forty-three large rattlesnakes, seven
| black snakes and numerous other smaller
reptiles not one Of which seemed TO reeog-
nize our presence. Slower and Dunn do not
| kill off the whole crop yearly, but leave
many for breeding purposes.
why" said the former, that mound
there contains probably dozen nests OF
eggs and each nest at least ten eggs. Ihavt
| found nests that contained as high as eigh
| teen Young rattlers, the largest not over two
inches in length. Their eggs are about th,
size of those of a partridge, but have sOf
shell. The farm is a tract Of virgin prairi,
and has never seen plow, and Dan saws Ii
summer its native grass is very high, rem
dering it an excellent place for the reptiles t
hide in.
After retiring to the house, the two snake
breeders exhibited string Of rattles seyera
teet IN length, winch they captured last sum
mer, the whole footing up 76S rattles. Som
OF the snakes possessed twenty-five rattle
ana button, each rattle counting a year Q
It's age and the button q fraction OF a year.
Mrs. Stover also had in box of sawdus
under cook stove twenty-seyen rattlesnak